Scotland’s Alan Perrie defeated his English rival in a unique semi-final while Cyprus, Georgia and Moldova made history in women’s boxing

The 65 semi-final bouts were held on the fifth competition day of the EUBC European Schoolgirls and Schoolboys Boxing Championships in Georgia’s capital in Tbilisi today. Scotland’s Alan Perrie won the bout of the day in Tbilisi where Cyprus, Georgia and Moldova have female finalists at the very first time.

Altogether 30 nations are attending in the EUBC European Schoolgirls and Schoolboys Boxing Championships and several of these young talents have already international experiences. Boxers who were born in 2005 and in 2006 are eligible to attend in the event where 13 girls and 20 boys will be crowned among the participating 78 schoolgirls and 238 schoolboys.

Scotland and England have a great rivalry in boxing and all of the sports since decades and a battle between the two neighbouring nations is also unique. Alan Perrie won the Scottish National Championships in her relevant age group many times, firstly in 2016. The young Scottish lost to England’s Emmanuel Buttigieg in the Three Nations Schoolboys Championships two months ago but he has done a revenge in Tbilisi. Perrie’s English opponent was Sam Hardy this time and he had not only the brave attempt but the well-built strategy to win the anticipated bout of the day. The Scottish featherweight (54kg) boxer’s final opponent will be Armenia’s Narek Nersisyan who was slightly better than Hungary’s Istvan Bari in the second semi-final of the category.

Surprises of the day

Ana Khunjua has done a historical victory for Georgia in the preliminary round of the 2018 EUBC European Women’s Elite Boxing Championships which was the Caucasian nation’s first female triumph. The Georgians moved ahead into the next step in women’s boxing when their 14-year-old schoolgirl Tatia Bukia eliminated Ukraine’s Maria Fonotova at the heavyweight (70kg) causing a sensation on Day5. Bukia is the first Georgian woman boxer who advanced to an EUBC final where her last rival will be England’s Amber Moss-Birch who eliminated Hungary’s Nikolett Kovacs.

Cyprus is one of the developing European boxing countries which team arrived to Tbilisi with high expectations this time. Their Laila Abdullatif is a talented girl at the flyweight (40kg) but she was not a favourite for a place in the finals. The Cyprian youngster has done a historical success reaching the semi-finals in the EUBC European Schoolgirls Boxing Championships but she was planning to get a better result. Abdullatif gave in everything, boxed over her previous limit and eliminated Ireland’s Shakira McCrudden in the semi-finals of this strong weight class.

The Round-Up

The first finalist of the whole EUBC European Schoolgirls Boxing Championships became England’s Sophie Harker who lives and trains in Middlesbrough and now she remained her chance alive to win the title in Tbilisi. The English pinweight (36kg) girl controlled two out of the three rounds in the semi-finals against Ireland’s Carlagh Mullarney which bout was more than a fight between the two big rivals. Harker won their tough contest by split decision and will be meeting for the gold medal with Ukraine’s Anastasia Burlak.

Hungary’s Izabel Devenyi won the gold medal at the Nations Women’s Schoolgirl Boxing Cup in Serbia starting a year with a top international success. The 14-year-old Hungarian arrived to Tbilisi as the main favourite of the welterweight (54kg) and realized her minimum target in the semi-finals advancing to the title contest. Devenyi worked more on feet than Turkey’s Melike Demirel and won the bout by unanimous decision which means the Hungarian will be facing for the title with Moldova’s new sensation Irina Ciubova.

Ukraine’s Dmytro Mishchenko had a tough battle against Hungary’s Levente Olah in the semi-final of the semi-featherweight (52kg) which was one of the closest fights on the fifth competition day. The Ukrainian succeeded using his strong stamina in the key contest and will be meeting against a top local hope in the day of the finals. Georgia’s Demur Kajaia had hard road to the finals but he was delivered his very best with perfect timing in the semi-finals and stopped Turkey’s Efil Can Polat.

Croatia’s best schoolboy in their current national team Mateo Pejic eliminated tough rivals during his road to the semi-finals. The 14-year-old Croatian defeated Ireland’s Caolan Devlin by large margin of differences at the light heavyweight (76kg) and advanced to the final of the continental event. Pejic’s final opponent will be Ukraine’s Ilia Pavlov who was too strong for Moldova’s Danil Talmazan and won that one-sided contest.